Small Business Social Media: Does it even work?

Sometimes I think social media is MOST meaningful to small businesses. For example, I drove 70% of one former employer's web traffic strictly from blogging and participating on LinkedIn. They could not afford that kind of traffic from Google, or any other means of outreach.

It also helps small businesses meet new, influential people, fast. For example, I was interviewed for (as were you, Craig, congrats!) the recently- published book "The New Handshake: Sales Meets Social Media" by virtue of my participation on LinkedIn.

I literally had prospects find my blog posts - that had been floating around social media circles - picking up the phone to do business. It's amazing. At one point, 30% of my sales were from social media and free Google results.

In other examples, I do believe small local companies (such as restaurants, bars, ice cream stands, etc) that garner thousands of followers, benefit tremendously by that new lifeline to their patrons. They stay front on mind because they are now more engage-able. They couldn't have afforded all of the direct mail or other advertising required for that kind of connection.

Social media is one of the great business equalizers of all time.

Marketing continues to evolve with numerous options to business owners to promote business and increase customer base. It is ever more important to define a social media strategy targeted to business goals and demographics. 5 steps to building a smart strategy:

1. Ensure that the social media strategy is integrated with overall marketing initiatives. This is important for brand consistency.
2. Identify the three social meeting applications that support business demographics
3. Research three competitors on the sites and identify what they are doing well and what they are not providing.
4. Create a plan to differentiate and influence your fan base with consistency and value.
5. Define a Return on Investment (ROI) strategy to ensure that goals are being met.

Some quick facts: Social Media Applications are Used the Most:

* Facebook - there are over 3.5 million minutes are spent on this site a day. 70% of Facebook users are outside the US with a gender ratio of 55% female users and 45% male users.
* The average Facebook users has 130 friends, sends eight friend requests per month, writes 25 comments each month and likes 2 pages each month.
* Twitter - with 30 million users in the US with a gender ratio of 55% female users and 45% male users.
* Twitter users use Twitter to: 42% learn about products and services, 41% to provide opinions about products/services, and 31% to ask for opinions about products/services.
* LinkedIn - has 17 million users and is the 48th most visited site on the Internet just below flickr, match.com and Apple with a gender ratio of 52% female and 48% male.

Sources: Quantcast and Webolutions

I think the answers from the group are clear, but just to drive it home this is an article I send to clients when they say "But social media isn't for little guys like me". Its the story of a small restaurant in Ottawa who uses social media to turn fans into evangelists.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/your-business/grow/mia-wedg...

This article effectively puts the debate to rest with most clients.

I found my hair stylist trough a Yelp review. I have been using his services for more than three years. I recently left a great review for my Yoga studio and nasty one for a car repair shop. So yes - social media works for small business and generally bring the better ones to the top.

Small business have to determine where to put maximum effort - is it yelp, linkedin, facebook, blogs,... the best channel differs by the type of business..

You really don't have any choice but to adopt social media as a primary marketing and advertising tool. Using Google for advertising is simple, but ridiculously expensive compared to free social media updates to your connections and very low advertising rates for actual ads on social media. Any small business that can save THOUSANDS of dollars in marketing, advertising, sales, and research costs - is a very formidable opponent if they are your competition. If you don't get the social media secret sauce cooked up for your organization, you will be wasting $$$ in a very competitive global economy.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...and I think the same is true for social media. I've had the most success with attracting business through having a web presence, networking (B2B, warm calling, public speaking, etc), and LinkedIn.
I've not felt compelled to use FaceBook for business purposes, and have not invested much energy with Twitter.

Since there are so many avenues to choose in promoting and marketing a small business, I'd suggest that creating a niche marketing strategy would add the most value (an inch wide and a mile deep). Otherwise, one can have too many hands in too many fires, and get burned as a result of being overextended.

As a final thought - as you consider your social media options - find at least one person (in a similar business) that you know personally who has had success with social media in building their business. Three things to ask: Which social media avenues have you used, how many hours have you invested in each, and how much money have you made as a result of your investment in each.

In other words, show me the money.

To me it's "one more strategy" I can or may not want to put on my strategic plan.

What really matters (since the bottom line, after making new friends, etc. -- is that we're doing this to gain new business) is "who your ideal market/target" and where do they hang out.

I mean if they're not on the web today... then create some profiles on the biggest sites (for search engine ranking help) and move on till next year. Then next year, look again to see if it's a better alternative to something that you're already doing.

What I like best and what I recommend is to use it possibly as part of a companies overall marketing/ad/PR/networking strategies.

AND to use Google alerts and twitter search to watch your competition, answer questions about your company, etc. etc.

I wrote a story about social networking (it's not new of course) and how I use it and test out which sites to spend time on ... here http://www.MarketingWithIntegrity.com

You'll see that it's important to monitor your efforts and move on when a site you've been using changes in a way that isn't good for you.

Tom, Many of the comments above include actual results, not just opinions. I work with real SMB clients every day, they would not consider themselves "theories". Connect with me and let's take on a first step for you and your work at Alliance to Maximize Profits into social media.

Something to consider-"Social media isn't media at all-it is simply a conversation with 2 or more people" from Scott Stratten @unmarketing and I will bet you are already doing that.

Social media works best for social media companies -- large or small. It can drive some traffic to non-social media companies that excel and can attract positive reviews, etc. on social media sites. But most companies don't have a "raving fan club" who will write reviews, tweet about them, etc. And the second half of social media is a conversion process that deepens the relationship to the point of sales. If that offline process isn't in place... social media is a waste of "howdies" and handshakes... which are purely introductory stage activities. They don't consumate the deal!

Craig,

FaceBook and other social sites are filled with thousands of businesses that attract thousands of people...and not. Businesses that target consumers [B2C] have more opportunity to build a following [and drive sales] through the sharing of relevant content. Businesses that are business focussed [B2B] that try to replace prospecting with social media have less potential of success because sales development is about reaching narrow bands of target customers quickly and effectively. Unless you can find a media channel that is tightly focussed on your target market, your message and relevancy fade in the whirlwind of messages that have more significance to a greater range of social media users.

One of the problems with measuring small business performance on a larger scale is precisely that small business tends to less visible than, say, a Fortune 1000 or Fortune 500 company applying social media tactics for marketing. I happen to know that there are dozens of small businesses in the Twin Cities successfully leveraging social media marketing. However, the evidence is anecdotal and many are truly entrepreneurial -- one-person operations, or businesses with only a small number of employees.

As a SCORE small business counselor, I encourage small businesses to develop a sound social media marketing strategy and execution plan. I also encourage them to consider supplementing with paid advertising via Google Ads or similar because they can do so much with such a small promotional budget and they can do all or almost all of it with their own sweat-equity.

On the other end of the spectrum, there are likely tens of thousands--perhaps hundreds of thousands--of small businesses that could benefit from a well-considered social media strategy but have taken no steps in that direction because they don't understand it or how to begin. This is most unfortunate and I am pleased to see a number of social media specialists offering their services to small business (many of the specialists being themselves small businesses and using social media to reach out to prospects and to find new business).

The short answer to your question is: If you look for them, you will find a multitude of small businesses that have benefited from social media marketing approaches.

If there was a "real world" example of using social media to move Japanese boilers would you copy it? When a marketing or advertising message doesn't work it has a "Cool Hand Luke" problem. "What we have here is a failure to communicate." A message that solves a problem, delivered to people who have that problem, who can afford to have you solve that problem, will respond to everything from a flier on a telephone pole to a social networking ad. I have two rules of advertising; 1. Never advertise anywhere unless there is at least a 75% expectation that the ad will produce more sales revenue than it costs." Advertising must always be an investment; it can never be an expense. 2. When logic and emotion come into conflict; emotion ALWAYS wins. Ever buy a CD to get one song? One song $12.99, eleven free, I like it. We make emotional decisions then create a logical argument to support that decision. So for any example of social media to work, it must have an emotional message that will make a qualified customer react and produce more business than it costs.

From first hand experience I can testify that social media is a way a small business operating on a shoestring budget can attain #1 Google search engine results without spending a dime. However, it is time intensive and requires a learning curve. I not only achieved that in a B2C business, I also duplicated the results in a fraction of the time in a B2B business. And now I am well on the road to convincing others to do likewise.

Social Media definitely does work for Small Business! Social media provides virtually instant access to information throughout the world, thus giving businesses the ability to share news about their products and services with people that were once out of reach. Social media is easily one of the fastest growing (free) benefits of technology today. Not very long ago, businesses were limited to connections with contacts within their neighborhood or at best, their country. The door is now open to share your business with the world.

This seems to beg the question, “How does that apply to my company? I don’t do business with anyone outside of my state!” Indeed, this may be the current case, but remember, social media opens your business door to the world. To explore how that can work for you, consider your current network of connections, both personal and professional. For instance, your Facebook friends include folks like Cousin Joe, High School Friend Susie, and the business owner down the street. These people, known as social media connections, are your core network. They interact with connections that you don’t necessarily have within your core network.

As the result of your core relationships, other relationship opportunities become available within the various social media platforms of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, FastPitch, et al. Social media offers the ability to meet people online that you may never have the opportunity to meet in person. Who knows whom, and with whom can you begin a mutually beneficial alliance? Through social media interaction you can not only develop new personal relationships, but also establish valuable business relationships. Social media can be utilized in the same way that face-to-face meetings such as Happy Hour, Sunday Brunch, conferences and conventions, PTA meetings, and Lion’s Club are utilized. Meet new people. Share experiences and expertise. Develop relationships.

Social media offers relationship-building opportunities that are virtually limitless and, for the most part, they’re free. Through the use of social media, your retail establishment, consulting firm, or service company has access to information, prospects and alliances worldwide. Your advertising opportunities can grow exponentially through the utilization of social media.

There has been a large number of responses to this question. Let's look at the bottom line. Do you want Social Media to produce sales and market branding awareness. I am sure the answer is yes. So we are really seeking how to use Social Media since it's advent.

First of all we need to look at Social Media as a basic tool with the following formula
1. Passion statement to get someones attention in 3 seconds
2. A call To Action that promptly causes the Social Media participant do something to react to your displayed information or statement.

In principle it all sounds very simple but in reality it isn't. here are the guidelines:

1. Be Honest
2. Be Fair
3. Be informational
4. Be Respectful
5. Don't badger people
6. Respond with dignity
7. Don't try to win battles
8. Don't saturate your information, pace yourself

I hope this helps

Dr. Stan Fine PhD

I think it absolutely works and it is very imporant for all businesses. The reality is that social media has become a critical communications channel.
It is important in my mind to have a social media strategy- you don't just use it haphazardly.
I use linkedin extensively. It connected me to the publisher of my book, has allowed me to sell my book, and to connect with clients and people all over the world.
The emerging generations rely on social media extensively to get their information about products and servicesand to communicate with one another.
My wife and I just relocated and we used social media to help us locate places to eat, where to get a haircut, get my car repaired, etc.

I also think it is a critical piece of the marketing plan for small business. In my personal experience Facebook is too "social" and Twitter "Tweets" are too short and often get ignored due to the incredible volume there. LinkedIn seems to be best for leveraging professional contacts. There is a certain expectation of business posts that does not exist with some of the other services. MOST CRITICAL for small business: get all these social networks talking to one another! I can post one blog item on a proprietary Wordpress system that I maintain on my web server and it automatically goes to Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Using a "sharing" link that I add to every post, I (and my blog readers) can actaully manually send any post to virtually any social network that exists, including Google Reader where it then hits syndicating potential via that aggregator. All for $0.00 investment. Can't beat it!

The problem with the query is that it is directed to US - the mavens, not to the SMBs who are actually using social media. Most of the above comments are very learned, experienced, literate, and well stated, but I didn't see much more than the espousal of theories.Somehow we need to be able to query the businesses who are actually using - or, at least, trying Social Media to find out what is actually (not) working.
Getting an opinion on what MIGHT be working is actually worthless.
I haven't used Social Media, I wish I could find out how it works, and I have no idea how to find the small business owners who actually have real-world experience.

A sole proprietor, HR consultant, I follow uses his blog, Facebook and Twitter to maintain his relationship with his clients and, along with referrals, to drive new business. His clients are small and large businesses. He tweets about events and regularly blogs advice of interest to HR personnel. He has also written a couple of books and advertises them on his blog, and uses passages from them to answer question and as the basis for blog articles.

The approach is integrated: one service referencing another. The approach is persistent: not a tweet here and there or an occasional article, but every day and every week, count on it. He uses all of these vehicles to manage his brand, establish his expertise, let people know where to find him and when he is giving a presentation, and keep open lines of communication.

One person can present one voice and take advantage of powerful resources for reaching people, but it takes work. So social media works successfully in this situation, but not everyone is comfortable writing or exposing himself. Not every situation is the same. Just because social media is there doesn't mean you have to use it.

Tom, social media works if you have the ability to have a conversation. If I drop you in a party can you chat with people and leave feeling fulfilled? If so these skills directly translate to leveraging social media for success.

If these are not within your current core skills, you can:
1. ignore social media
2. delegate it to an expert
3. improve your skills

The decision to choose anyone of the above three paths should be based on your self assessment of your skills and desires. Since the barriers to entry are so low for social media, many people are sold on the idea that they can be socially sucessful in social media, when they are not in the real world.

It is this gap that separates the winners in social media, from the "also-rans".

In a word I'd say No. But you still have to engage in it in order to be seen and heard.

If you beleive that Social networking will ring in Business and Revenue and over the Short Run - Then No.

Twitter and LinkedIn are valuable tools but there is so much noise out there that I believe they hold little direct value to the SME that can be measured in dollars in the short run other than a tool to raise awareness and can be equally outweighed by the effort expended.

They are very Time Intensive - daily, hourly, weekly updates
Are difficult to Measure effectively
They can also allow competitors to track you more easily
They expose your thoughts to people and businesses you may not want them exposed to
They are also an "ultra contrived" form of Marketing

Maybe I run against the grain here, but I an calling my own experience of heavy adoption of these artforms in my own small business and over an extended period.

No – social media and business development are not a happy match – for most, though we wish it would be.

Be honest… You (as we all) would rather tweet, blog, and post our way to greater success. In actuality, the effective use of social media for professional benefit demands a lot of time, creativity, and know-how that most do not have.

If you want to grow your business, do the hard work that you’re avoiding instead of playing around on social media websites and with your iPhone apps.

Steve, you're a breath of fresh air!

Social media will not suit everybody. In fact, as others have also observed elsewhere, most firms operate in categories with little perceived risk, minimal status conferral and scant ego involvement associated with their products or services.

The degree of emotionality is also a factor. Customers tend to speak about products or services in one of two extreme conditions: extreme dissatisfaction or extreme satisfaction. And there’s a reasonable amount of independent quality research that shows customers are far less likely to talk about positive than negative experiences.

So, the word of mouth marketing benefit that many social media proponents promise isn’t the free advertising some might have us believe.

If you're marketing for one of the companies working in the categories I've described above and you're on line trying to generate word of mouth, then your company's time and money would probably be better directed towards more traditional marketing activities and channels.

The real question is where do you get the best bang for your bucks? I'd suggest for most companies, it's not yet going to be via social media and for many, it may never be.

It's interesting all the hype surrounding 'social media', my business has been involved in social media for many years, blogs, twitter, other sites, and although all this helps with our main website page ranking with Google we have had ZERO work directly from it, but as we get regular work through our website and social media helps its ranking then I guess indirectly it does have a benefit.

Holden Associates are accountants, business and tax consultants in the UK.

Craig, we're a small business in the sales improvement business, with globally disparate sales force and customer service teams of our own. We have built and integrated our own social media component ('Pulse') into our own sales performance automation platform ('Dealmaker') which itself integrates with all the major CRM systems. We have found, as many have, that our social media efforts are all about giving and expecting nothing in return, as we build up our influence in the areas that are important to us.

What we have also found, is that social media has REALLY helped us build up our partner/reseller network. My own theory on this is that your customers are harder to recognize and cultivate via social media, but your competitors and other vendors (ie all potential partners) are easier to recognize and equally active in social media. It's easier to see what someone does if their twitter handle is @joACMEvendor, whereas your prospective customer is probably using a handle like @joanonymousperson and a private email/webmail address, if you get my drift.

Hope this helps.

Is social networking relevant for business? Like most things in business, as in life it depends: it depends on how you define social networking; it depends on what your goals are and who your audience is; and it depends on how much time, and how many resources you are willing to devote to the effort.
The current hype surrounding social networking has spawned the usual avalanche of carpetbaggers eager to take advantage of small business owners who lack an in-depth understanding of the psychology of marketing communication and how it relates to the Web environment. Can social networking work for small business, of course it can under the right circumstances; is it the be-all and end-all answer to word-of-mouth, not likely.
Most small businesses have the same problems: lack of time, money, and marketing sophistication. The flood of hype for the latest one-solution-fits-all from Google Adwords to Twitter, and from Facebook to Linkedin are for most businesses a waste of already strained resources.
The idea of social networking is to connect to an interested audience using various venues. Most businesses already have a website and websites are the place customers look to find out about who you are, what you do, and why they should care. Most businesses don’t use their websites to their best advantage, to communicate the emotional value proposition they offer, and maybe that is the place where resources should be first utilized. Big companies have big budgets and can experiment with all kinds of marginal marketing efforts, but small business must be efficient. When visitors go to a website with a contact form for sales only inquiries, without a contact name or phone number, you have to ask yourself, maybe that’s a good place to start.
Jerry Bader
MRPwebmedia
Tel: (905) 764-1246
info@mrpwebmedia.com

http://www.mrpwebmedia.com/ads
http://www.136words.com
http://www.sonicpersonality.com
http://www.cacheclosed.com

I have read all of this and to be honest think everyone has drunk the Kool-Aid. Social Media is exhausting. My market is B2B and no one has been able to tell me of a success story in this arena. It is all full of B2C.

I attend workshops, I ask the questions and all of the examples that are used are B2C. Sure we know that works, I lovde it and participate in it BUT I am a small buisness and the basics to build my business are still essential inspite of - or dare I say becuase of - social media. All of this stuff takes away from basics and makes me tired! Hang on, gotta go and finish my BLOG! Keep on keeping on ...!

Interesting range of opinions. Social media tools are a new potential advertising vehicle for small and medium businesses, so in effect, the question becomes: Is this advertising vehicle effective for SMBs? The trite (and true) answer is, “It depends.” It depends on who the company is, what type of customer they are trying to reach, and how much money that they have to spend.
The first question asked is: Are my customers on Facebook? With 500 million users, chances are yes (if you are a consumer company), but you then need to figure out who they are and how to connect with them and that requires making an investment. After all, someone has to set up the Facebook account, monitor it, and update it. As few folks have noted, SMBs typically do not have computer nerds on the payroll; these folks are working for IT companies. So, they may need help taking this step.
Many of the execs running these companies are already overwhelmed just trying to make payroll this month. They also may be more comfortable with traditional advertising vehicles, such as direct mail, billboards, or radio spots. So, they may not have the time or interest to figure out how to use social media effectively. In fact, one survey found (http://smallbiztrends.com/2009/11/make-social-media-useful.html) found that three out of every four SMBs are not using social networking tools at all. So, those leveraging it are the exception rather than the rule – at least for the moment.
Decades ago, a consultant (whose name I can’t remember at the moment) told me, “Two years after, the press stops writing about a new technology is when most companies implement it.” My take is since this topic generated such a high response that most companies are not using social media tools yet but may in a few years when they become more comfortable with them.

I just got an email from Focus.com asking me to reply to this thread based on my real-world experience and I have to say this has to be one of the longest threads I have seen in my time on Focus.com.

All I know is that back in 2007 my wife and I started to use Facebook to look for opportunities in the SaaS space and targeted companies on the site by posting our comments RELATED to the issues at hand and in doing so landed a cool job at NetSuite.com, which was a life changing experience and I really learned a lot about how NOT to use social media in a negative way to bash your competitors.

After NetSuite I joined their largest VAR, Sererra.com, and continued with our proven Facebook strategy picking up client after client and driving web traffic in the summer of '09 from under 500 to over 4000 a month much like today's SnapLogic.com site, which Cazoomi.com is involved with on some of our integration business lines : http://bit.ly/cS9ROC

Before leaving @Sererra I had already trained our Salesforce guru at our Asia location, CnCpartners.com, to replace my social media efforts and today @Cazoomi we have landed 90% of our members and clients from our posts thru our myriad of our social media avenues.

So based on my stats, in the B2B world of SaaS, social media works like a charm and has grown our Cazoomi membership to over 1800 in our year of existence but I have to say that in the beginning of this journey I thought it was a complete waste of time.

Social Media reminds me of the Dot.bomb days back in 1999-2001 when everyone had a new idea or product which was going to change the world:) and now in 2010 we see a gazillion social media plays with tons of followers yet no clear path to revenue in my opinion.

However, many of those Dot.com companies thrived and survived, as like in any sport or new adventure, it ALWAYS pays off if you stick with it, DAILY, and make money.

~Clint
@cazoomi

I am just starting my small business but part of it is to help others start and maintain their small business.
The one thing that I have come to realize in all my research in the past year is that the old style of marketing and advertising is on its way out. Consumers want to closer connection to the company that they are buying products or services from. Likewise the old style of websites is dying out as well. The new web/blog site style is the wave of the future. Companies need to have social media experts working for them looking for negatives so that they can respond quickly before it escalates ruining their business.
Part of my package for small business is teaching them social media and why it is very important to them succeeding and moving forward.
I am definitely a user and will continue to learn and expand my social media capabilities.

Before the question can be answered, you first have to distinguish between the needs of a consumer driven business and a B2B company. For companies that sell directly to consumers then social media can be a great marketing tool if used appropriately. However, if a company doesn't have someone who can write well to the target market then it can do more harm than good. There are risks involved with social marketing that a company needs to understand. For example, a Midwest grocery store chain put out a $5 off coupon on their Facebook page and said to tell all one's friends about it. The incentive was good for 1 week. Within 3 days, they had to shut it down because so many people had taken advantage of the offer that they lost a lot of money. They had assumed people would use the coupon against a large grocery bill but that was not the case and ultimately didn't really lead to more customers.

The value of B2B marketing on most social media is doubtful. If you sell raw lumber it is unlikely that your customers will look for you on Facebook or MySpace. It does make sense to use LinkedIn because it is a business oriented networking opportunity. However, if you use it only for marketing and do not participate except to sell, then you might find yourself with thumbs down ratings in a given group or even pulled by the group managers.

Any business using any form of social media needs to know their market, target the appropriate social media for your business and then use it responsibly.

In addition to the benefits of it being free and a source of viral marketing, social media can be very beneficial to your SEO rankings which can bring long term quality traffic to your web site.

Rob

Does social media work for small business? Yes and no.

Are you looking for quick leads? Forget social media.

Are you looking to get exposure for your business, share great content, and slowly, over time, build great relationships - many of which turn into customers? Yes, social media works.

Find New Customers is good example. Tiny and underfunded, we strongly leveraged content and social media for many months. Revenue took a "hockey stick' look. For months, nothing. Then suddenly, seemingly overnight, it exploded.

Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor
Find New Customers "Lead Generation Made Simple"
http://www.findnewcustomers.com

I believe the key to small businesses successfuly leveraging social media is to remember the purpose of social media. People don't log in to see advertising campaigns, get coupons or generally shop for the latest deals. They log in to share personal experiences and interests. A small business that provides a location for these activities in each of the social media (a facebook page, a dedicated forum, a youtube demo and customer speakout, and so on) has a better chance of understanding what is driving their customers and getting meaningful sales facilitating feedback. A great example of successful social media strategy that creates community to drive sales can be found at http://mashable.com/2010/02/04/social-media-helps-small-business/.

Yes, social media can help your business. It should be a part of your overall marketing process. That is the simplistic answer everyone hears. However implementing this is much more than setting up a few profiles and tweeting. You, as a small business owner only need to look at the big guys to see that social media works.

There are four major results you can expect from a well developed social media plan.

1. CUSTOMER LOYALTY - Direct communication between you and your customers. You will learn what they are looking for from your business and they will feel a stronger loyalty toward you.

2. PROSPECTS - A growing pool of prospects through your audience development.

3. COMPETITION RESEARCH - Awareness of what your competitors are doing in the marketplace can be gained by monitoring their performance and what your community is saying about them.

4. CEMENT YOUR BRAND - The ability to quickly respond to both the positive and negative comments concerning your business by setting up listening posts and implementing action response plans.

You will decide that social media is necessary to your business at some point. My advice to you is to not take the immediate step of having an employee or family member set up a few profiles and "go at it". Social media has a tremendous scope of resources available to you and is increasingly overlapping into internet marketing. Ask yourself these questions.

1. Who am I trying to reach? -This will determine what social media tools are best suited to your business.

2. What is my business currently doing to get our audience's attention? - If there are some parts working, then how do you take that to the next level of effectiveness with social media?

3. How much time and money can my business devote toward social media? - The reality is there is always a limited budget and your time is precious. This is the number one reason that small business owners are hesitant to step into social media.

In the words of Douglas Adams, DON'T PANIC!

suggest that you locate a social media marketing agency or person and ask for an evaluation. A good social media manager can look at your current marketing strategy and work with you to find the best plan for implementing social media in your business. You can expect the plan to include fees for initial consulting, set up, and ongoing maintenance.

The current rule of thumb is that, if you have a robust marketing plan in place you can expect that an effective social media campaign can cost you about ten percent of that plan. Probably this can be found within the existing budget by simply evaluating where the resources are best alloted.

It may take a little while for you to see the results of the plan. Ask for regular reports. Never forget that the social media manager or virtual assistant is a behind the scenes person. YOU are the face of your company. Learn how to tweet. Regularly check in on your personal and corporate profiles.

Social media can work for your business. I encourage you to step into the pool!

This is really a two part answer; First, from the perspective of a business owner who is personally growing his/her network that may lead to new business and or strategic relationships. And second, from the perspective of the business as a strategic means for marketing and growing brand awareness. From both perspectives the term 'works' is relative depending on goals and expectations of the individual and the company. That said, social media works for developing business relationships and strategic growth... if you invest the time to create a strategy, be clear about what success means to you and your company and stick with it! There are so many tools available and you can now track activity on your web site, You Tube, Facebook pages and blogs that drive business to your web site or certain pages to your web site. Your web site can also tell you where your visitors are coming from, like LinkedIn, a Blogger or Posterous blog or even this Focus site. As an example, my company has a B2B offering that is an analytical dashboard (http://www.coreconnex.com) that provides visuals on your monthly businesses finances. We have found that connecting these financial trends to the activity we see from our social media activity puts a very powerful picture in the hands of a business owner. We can see that increased activity on social media sites leads directly to new business and new contacts. 27% of our revenue today is derrived from someone finding us and coming to us because of social media. We're just committed to talking to everyone about our value and brand.

In an on-line published report by Tech Crunch entitled “How Social Media Drives New Business: Six Case Studies”, businesses both big and small are flocking to social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Foursquare. The fact is that a presence on these platforms not only allows companies to engage in conversations with consumers, but also serves as an outlet to drive sales through deals and coupons. And while major brands like Starbucks, Virgin, and Levi’s have been participating in the social web for some time now, the rate of adoption among small businesses is increasing too. According to a recent University of Maryland study, social media adoption by small businesses has doubled from 12% to 24% in the last year. http://techcrunch.com/2010/07/17/how-social-media-drives-new-business-six-cas...

One caveat to my answer above. Beware of poor security on some social networks! I have heard a half dozen horror stories about Facebook hacks in the last month. The most recent was my niece in Orlando, Florida last week (i.e., bogus email sent to every one of her Friends with malicious code attached). A realtor in Clearwater, Florida has banned any associates from using the company computers to access Facebook. Another small businessman in this area told me that his computer meltdown was diagnosed by the tech who fixed it as Facebook sourced.

Social Media absolutely works! Its a great way to handle a companies reputation, quick customer service concerns, & most importantly its helps build relevant conversations around your product or service.

Its great for companies of all sizes, from Non-Profits to massive companies like Cisco http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/cisco-social-media-product-launch/

I've found a unique service in B2C that blasts text messages out to cell phones who have opted in. We've done some preliminary testing with some of my clients - restaurants, nail salons, and veterinarians - with success so far that exceeds what we were expecting. So far we've found that 7% to almost 14% of the cell phone owners who opt in to the "service" are responding. The variance between 7% and 14% seems to depend on the message sent, and we're not through with our initial tests. But here's what we have so far (assuming an average of 10% response):
A B2C restaurant has 3000 clients on the message list (the system uses only IMs, not emails); has an average ticket of $10.00, and sends out only one message per month. These are actually real numbers from a specific client of mine.
12 months X 3000 recipients = 36,000 respondents. If each spends only the $10.00 average, we're creating additional revenue of $360,000. This sounds high. It is higher than we expected. But so far, that's what the system is generating. I'll add more information as we gather it. I should add that we've only been testing for seven months.
Obviously this fits B2C better than B2B - those businesses who have a large number of repeat customers who spend a relatively small amount. (we haven't yet tried to generate new customers with it). It doesn't work worth a damn for my service business - and forget funeral parlors.
Bottom line is that to my own surprise an (admittedly novel) approach to social marketing can work far better than any of the traditional advertising that we have tested. We're hoping to find a way to maximize the effect by using Twitter and Facebook, but have no idea how so far.
tommark8@gmail.com

Tom,
What you describe does not sound like social media to me. Traditional push or as you said "blast" approaches are he opposite of the core principle of social media which I define as simply as a conversation with 2 or more people.

Just my take.

You may be right. I still don't know what Soc Med entails. I assume it's being formed and described as you and I are communicating by the other trillion people out there, and is still quite amorphous.

There has been a fairly recent and fundamental shift in the understanding of what Social Media Marketing means for SMB companies. The companies who understand the clear distinctions between social media for personal relationship development versus positioning a business are doing exceedingly well with social media marketing. If you are not looking at driving traffic to your videos and content that give away (as in for free) useful, actionable information in your area of expertise, you are not getting how social media marketing works for businesses. If you have true expertise in some area that is useful to others, think of sharing your knowledge without getting an immediate return. Leverage this to drive traffic to a members-only opt-in on your website in exchange for more "members only" content. You can then use this to drive more traffic to your website for sales. All of this will crank your SEO rankings by it's very nature. It involves some serious effort, time and commitment, but can be very effective depending on your product or service.

Social Media is just another tool in a Businesses arsenal of tools. It should be done in conjunction with other Marketing Methods in order to produce customers/clients. I have found it very successful in starting a relationship with a potential client and in the Rapport building stage of that relationship. It's really all about relationship building and Social Media is a great tool that can make it all happen.

Sure it does. Look at the opportunities it has given small business to develop a strong online presence without an actual website. We participate in their success nearly everyday ourselves through our own online use at home, work and on the go.

Every business can benefit from engaging in at least one channel of social media and learning how to effectively use it and integrate into their overall marketing plan and business goals.

I am of two minds about social media networks. While they are a great way to reach people they really don't make them your customers. Say that I have been working in social media since I started with LinkedIn in 2003. Wow that's a long time to be on a site that just now have began to give me some return on investment. While most of the sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are free it's the time factor that really sucks up your ROI. If you take the fact that like now I am writing this answer about social networks it taking time away from doing the real work that is finding and keeping clients. Now here's the really wierd part that will floor you. I tell my clients who are thinking about how to improve their website to create a hub that includes social networks to feed you clients you can go after if they opt into their LinkedIn network then promote themselves through Facebook then update through Twitter. I found that this is the best way to get your businesss known using social networks. At least that's what I been doing since 2003. But I tell them don't rely on just social networks when ever possible when you can get a face to face meeting through social networks take the meeting. After all that what you are in business for.

Hi Kathleen, there's a shortage of SM success stories in B2B... because there is a shortage of success stories!

B2B marketers can however learn a lot from B2C, but it's probably not so much in the social media space.

Here's a free article on B2B marketing, it might give some insight into an important area where B2B firms might be able to up their game: http://blog.everythingdesign.co.nz/b2b-marketing/

Dear Craig,

I would compare social media v/s traditional advertising as similar to radio v/s print advertising. In 1920 when consumer radio began it was considered a novelty and advertising on radio was only done to reinforce print advertising and not expected to become a stand alone advertising venue. Social media today is the ground floor of the next major advertising venue. Traditional advertising targets specific demographics without knowing if every target is interested or if they will even read or watch the message. Social media provides a better approach by inviting the prospective clients to become a part of the process. Offering information, asking for suggestions and providing a place for interaction between both the organization and interested parties and between the interested parties provides a platform for growth. For small businesses it is the most economical method to become involved in their community and expand their potential client base. It is also the perfect way to develop new clients by providing information about new products and services that may not be commonly known to be available. Social media puts the guy who makes widgets in his garage on an equal level with major companies who have millions available for advertising.
One may succeed without using social media but I believe that it is a mistake to overlook an opportunity with such a modest cost.
For the consumer, whether a business or an individual, social media provides a previously unavailable tool. A business using social media has to commit to a higher standard in both product and service to avoid problems that can affect their reputation. I believe I have avoided a number of problems by checking out potential service providers prior to doing business with them. I have also found previously unknown suppliers that have exceeded my expectations.
Some may say that b2b might not see any success using Facebook or Myspace but they forget that individuals are what members of those sites are made of. I have found a few suppliers of unique parts through Facebook and Linkedin. I have associates that have had similar success.
Whatever plan you have or wish to develop using any form of social media needs to address its target market, understand the social media groups available, select those that offer the services you desire, and treat the operation with the same diligence that one would give to a million dollar advertising effort.

I'd say yes and no. Small business marketing through sites like Facebook can work, but you have to get noticed. To ensure the best results, I would suggest working through a professional service at first. Try http://themarketingunited.com/

Dear Craig,

A lot of very useful comments and suggestions from folks however I am more in agreement with John Sauer. Over the years, I've developed for SME's, many financial/econometric projection models that force the need to answer both current and going forward these simple questions: "who am I"; "what am I" and "where am I going"? This self-analysis needs to be done at least annually. Ok, what has this got to do with using business social media as a business development tool; actually everything! When you look at the plethora of social media options, you realize very fast that unless something stands-out very quickly it’ll get immediately lost in the quagmire of some real, many fictitious and/or scam, and one’s you check-out but just aren’t sure! Each social media platform tries to differentiate itself and target a certain audience, albeit usually very vague. Additionally you’re faced with an enormous volume of competing promotions that, if very fortunate, might receive a few micro-seconds of consideration.
Please realize that though my comments might seem on the dour and depressing side, on the contrary, an ill-conceived social media promotion effort that is akin to firing an AK47 at 2 am into a forest might backfire if you kill Bambi may not be such a good idea. And, repeating social media blitz’s only makes matters worse; the social media junkies/bloggers can be an aggressive group that have no hesitation to say very unfriendly things in public.
Bottom-line, regardless of which business development tool might seem appropriate to use, you must first answer those simple questions that will then result in you detailing exactly who are your customers, what is their profile and economic status, is it a repeat business or one-time sale, who are your competitors and how do you differentiate your product or service from them? If you have a unique offering then you have a window to leverage that advantage but take care not to exaggerate that monopoly-period; often very short-lived. When you are truly able to identify who you’re going after to develop your business; only then can you start listing your marketing options that’ll include, in all probability, both certain (but not all) business social media platforms as well as paid advertising that is within your budget?
You asked, “Are there any real world examples of small business leveraging social media in a truly meaningful way”. The answer is of course yes but without having done all the prerequisites, suggested above, the question becomes premature. You don’t need to hear a yes, that’s irrelevant right now; the issue becomes is it right for you and for you alone and your business. At that point only, your question will be refined (currently a scattergun approach) and your decision and options will naturally emerge.

Yup, sure does. Look at all the answers to this...

@Eric "Yup, sure does. Look at all the answers to this..."

Certainly there can be a great deal of activity with regards to social media - BUT - does it lead to productivity and profitability....?

Yes, there has been activity on this post..but (with the possible exception of information being posted and leveraged by respective posters) perhaps that is the only thing that has happened:-)